Bob Conlon, co-owner/general manager of Leunig's Bistro in Burlington, is being honored by the Burlington Business Association. / EMILY McMANAMY/Free Press

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Free Press Staff Writer

Bob Conlon has spent half his life at Leunig’s Bistro — from substitute bartender to co-owner. A certain sensibility, and a couple of tasks, follow him through every position.

“We’re all in the service industry,” Conlon, 63, said. “We feed people, we cheer them up. Plunge the toilets and mop the floors.”

Conlon will be honored tonight by the Burlington Business Association. The BBA’s 35th dinner and annual meeting will be held at the Hilton Burlington.

The honoree, a fixture on Church Street for more than 30 years, will be attending his first BBA dinner, Conlon said Monday morning over coffee in the bistro’s dining room.

“I always thought of that dinner as for the important people,” he said. “My social life is working.”

Conlon’s work at Leunig’s includes a variety of community service efforts, including an annual fashion show/fundraiser for the Breast Care Center at Fletcher Allen Health Care, and monthly dinners with a portion of proceeds to benefit local social service groups.

“They have long tradition of doing good for a broad range of community groups,” said Rita Markley, executive director of COTS.

Tim Halvorson is a past recipient of the award Conlon will receive; indeed, the award is named for Halvorson. He is a board member of the Burlington Business Association who will introduce Conlon at the dinner. Conlon follows in a line of honorees who are committed to helping and enriching the greater community, Halvorson said.

“We thought that Bob represents, through the way they handle things at Leunig’s, a great example of a small business that gives back,” Halvorson said. “Between breast cancer and City Arts and COTS, they give tens of thousands of dollars back to the community. It’s a business that uses its popularity and location as a vehicle for good.”

Conlon arrived in Chittenden County 45 years ago from Waterbury, Conn., the son of a restaurant waiter who worked as a busboy as a kid. He was a theater major at St. Michael’s College. These days, his acting takes place at the Leunig’s bar — his costume is well-dressed restauranteur — and on the Church Street Marketplace.

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Last summer, Conlon’s costume came to include hard hats, worn by him and his staff (and sometimes customers) as a nod to marketplace construction.

“You have a role to play,” Conlon said, a part in which his social life plays out at work. “You have brief conversations with people — cheerful and fun.”

He tries always to be in a good mood, Conlon said. If he’s feeling bad he steers away from the question, What do I want? and asks instead, What does my wife want? What does my daughter want? What do my staff and customers want? Conlon said.

“If you can make other people happy, you end up being happy,” he said.

Conlon started working at Leunig’s when he was 32, after a short stint as co-owner of a failed restaurant. The business, Carburs Rib-it Room, was in the space now occupied by Marilyn’s, a clothing store.

“If everything were perfect, it would’ve taken us 20 years to get up to zero,” Conlon said of the failed business.

He got out after two years and joined Leunig’s as a substitute bartender. “I always liked waiting on customers,” he said. “I got to hang out with a lot of good people — artists, business people, college professors, students, cops.”

He tended bar until about 10 years ago, when he became manager. The move to manager from bartender came about, in part, because managers came and went with frequency, Conlon said.

“Every time you get a new boss it’s very insecure,” Conlon said. “Your employment is dependent on the sanity of your supervisor. So be the supervisor.”

He started as well to purchase ownership shares in the business from Leunig’s owner, Robert Fuller, intending with his business partner, chef Donnell Collins, to become a 50-50 owner of the restaurant. Conlon expects the deal will be finalized May 1, he said.

“Isn’t that America?” Conlon said. “Isn’t that what everybody should do? Get a job, do your best at it, and don’t pass up opportunities. It’s an honorable profession. If you’re good at it, you can live a good life.”